it's a birthday!

I don't have a recent picture of Jeremy so this is him "sharpie-fied" by me.  Jeremy turns twenty today!  If you know Jeremy, you know he's just. plain. awesome.  And if you don't, I'm telling you!  He's taught me everything I know. ;)  Plus, he and I share in a love of shel silverstein, the ramones, toyota siennnas, wonder white bread and much much more.

I hope he has the very best day!  (Knox, you can lay off the math homework for tonight, please and thank you.)

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

I can't believe I, too, turn the big 2-0 in six days. I'm not sure why, but I'm kind of fighting twenty.  We'll see who wins.

Easter

We celebrated Easter at my grandparents with a big lunch and lots of visiting.  There were probably about thirty relatives or so there.  The little blond guys up top are my cousin, Kristi's, kids.  Aren't they adorable?!  They loved playing on Grandpa's power recliner.  (kind of like Spenser and I in the La-z-boy store...) 

The relatives and I also tried my cousin Simon's home-brewed mead.  Simon lives in Oregon and has started his own small business, Blue Dog Mead.  He was kind enough to send a few of his bottles so everyone could have a taste. 

We didn't have an egg hunt this year because there aren't as many little kids in attendence.  When I and many of my cousins were younger, the family used to have a big Easter egg hunt throughout my grandparents' backyard.  Instead, this year the little kids got baskets of candy- no looking required!

Spenser was the family photographer of the day and was nice enough to snap the photos of my parents and I.  He uses the continuous method, which is where he takes 100 shots in a minute and hopes one turns out.  Quantity over quality he says. :D

Oh yeah, and did I mention the swings?  Everybody loves the swing.  Spenser and I were pretty much on swing duty between pushing the little kids and taking turns ourselves.

Happy Easter! 

love,

C

playing easter bunny

When I was younger my mom's friend, Jan Marie, always used to make me the cutest Easter baskets.  And I mean the cutest!  They were perfectly put together because that's how Jan Marie is-she makes everything look so good.  She just naturally has an eye for arranging and decorating.

This year we decided to make her an Easter basket. (We usually exchange small gifts around the holidays.)  So my mom and I gathered up some Easter goodies:

mixed caramel/cheese popcorn

decorative flowery napkins

a hopping chick

assorted jelly bellies

hersey's kisses with almonds

mini robins eggs

bath fizz and lip gloss

homemade card

We then put it all together in the basket you see above!

Being the Easter bunny for the day was a pretty fun job.  

a little shopping never hurt...

This Thursday afternoon was my first day of Easter break!  (Really it's not so much of a break as a long weekend, but the word "break" is quite appealing isn't it?)  Luckily I didn't have my field experience this week, so my mom and I made a day of the afternoon and went shopping!  And what kind of a shopping trip would it be if we didn't start with frappucinos? ;)

We went to quite a few different places looking at clothes, home decor, purses, and anything else that caught our eye.  Even if we don't buy that much, we always just love looking at the new displays.  Plus, everything is so springy!  I bought my best purchase of the day from a young entrepreneur- a girl scout of course!  She had Thanks-a-lot cookies, which the local girl scouts in my area do not carry.  Bet you didn't realize they were a rarity! ;)

look what I found!

Remember this?  Well when I was rummaging around in my pantry for lunch today,

I found this little note.  Ironically I did not have mac&cheese for lunch.  Disappointing, I know. 

How could I not after that, right?  I'll have to hold off on the mmm...s til next time.